February 7, 2008

This Far By Faith

Shared by Jesus

By Most Rev. J. Terry Steib, S.V.D.

The liturgical season of Lent is about life. Lent prepares us for a new life in God, for conversion and beginning again, for praying and fasting, for giving and forgiving. Lent is about the life of Jesus _ the one who heals and gives life, the one who died that we might have life! So, as we move into the Lenten season of preparing for new life with God, I want to reflect on our stance on life as a Church and on how we need to have consistent ethics if we are to embrace the culture of life.

I am very proud of our young people from Bishop Byrne High School, Immaculate Conception High School, Memphis Catholic, and Saint Benedict High School who went to the Right to Life rally in Washington, DC on January 22. When we so often see teenagers depicted in the media as uncaring and seemingly care-free, it is uplifting to know that so many of the teens in our Catholic high schools were willing to go to Washington to rally peacefully for life.

Just two days later on January 24, I was in Nashville for a meeting of the Catholic Public Policy Commission (CPPC). Once again I realized that too many laws are being written to assure that the death penalty is carried out, rather than creating legislation that would put a halt to legalized state executions. As we discussed the issues relating to the death penalty, we were also made aware of the needs of many immigrants who come to Tennessee in the hope of finding a new way of life, but more often than not, find that life is not much better here than in the lands they left.

The key word in all of this is life. How do we as a Church during this Lenten season reflect about what it means to have a consistent ethic of life? How do we assist people who are adamantly opposed to abortion see that it is also important for a pro-life person to oppose the death penalty and to support legislation that would make our universe better able to sustain itself. When we choose to embrace the culture of life, we must recognize that today's world is threatened by war, abortion, poverty, racism, capital punishment and euthanasia. All these issues are linked together when we as Church speak about a `consistent ethic of life'. And when we believe in a `consistent ethic of life', then it is essential that each person working on all or some of these issues maintains a spirit of peace, reconciliation, and mutual respect in protecting the unprotected.

Last week, a police lieutenant was murdered in his home here in Memphis. Lieutenant Ed Vidulich worked all his life trying to protect life and enforce the law. But someone thought that he/she had the right to take the Lieutenant's life. Whoever that someone was, and the police have a suspect in custody, had no respect for life, no awareness of a `consistent ethic of life.' Someone else's death seems to mean little to those who, like the lieutenant's assailant, believe they can take a life and that it will have no consequence in their life or the lives of others. They seem not to care about the ones whose lives are torn apart by their disregard for the sacred value of life. Yet, on the other hand, what an enormous tragedy would result if the assailant, once caught, was tried and sentenced to death. The tragedy of Lieutenant Vidulich's death would only be deepened because we would, then, be seeking revenge and the death penalty would make it possible.

Lent is a good time to reflect on life and death because each is given to us and shared by Jesus. Jesus was given life in our world in order that He might give light to the darkness around us, and eventually overcome that darkness by bursting through death into life on Easter Sunday. As we reflect on Lent and the culture of life, we are being given an opportunity to see how we can best live our daily lives, not in the single issue focus that is the way of so many, but searching instead for the Glory of God. If we are consistent in our approach to life issues, then we can expect an Easter filled with the joy of all whose lives are lived with a deep awareness that all life is a gift of God.